Murder on the Interstate Express
by Ralinde
Summary: Seraphina thought she was just taking a leisurely train ride. It soon turned out that this was not the case.


The thing Seraphina enjoyed the most about taking the Interstate Express was the scenery. Today, she didn't have to go too far, so instead of booking an overnight compartment as she usually would, she had booked a regular ticket. She lifted her luggage in the racks and found herself a window seat. That was one of the advantages of boarding early. She had bought a cup of coffee and some bread at the station and put them on the table in front of her. Then she sank down in the soft plush. She didn't know whose idea it had been to go for pumpkin orange, but even though she thought it the most hideous color ever, it somehow gave the compartment a homely and cozy feeling. When the whistle sounded, she let out a content sigh and nestled further in the comfortable couch. They left the station. Seraphina took a sip of coffee and looked out the window.

-o0o-

About an hour later, just as they passed the Felton Bridge, someone pulled the brakes. Seraphina fell forward and caught herself on the opposing couch. She reached for her wand. Even though she wasn't on duty, it felt better to carry it with her.

Around her, she saw other people getting back up again too and lifting the luggage that had fallen out of the luggage racks above their heads.

"Hands up everybody!"

Against her will, she put her wand down. It was as if some invisible force had taken over the control of her hand. _Controlling spell_. Not as strong as _Imperius_ , but dark magic nonetheless.

She quickly assessed the situation. At the far end of the compartment, in front of the door, a man stood. She estimated him around forty, five foot tall and hundred-and-sixty pounds. He must be the caster of the Controlling Spell. He looked vaguely familiar. But then again, he had an average looking face without any outstanding features. There were ten, no eleven, other people in the compartment. A family with two small children and a baby, who had started crying at the sudden shouting, an elderly couple, three men around her age, a teenager with his mother and man around the same age as the robber.

"You!" the robber told the eldest of the small children. "Go around the compartment and collect their wands."

"Please, don't harm her," the mother begged. The girl sobbed and clutched at her mother.

"Don't make me come get her," the man threatened. "If nobody does anything stupid, no harm will befall her. Now, if you would all be so kind as to hand over your wand to this little lady…"

Gritting her teeth, Seraphina did as instructed, as did everyone else. No one wanted harm to come to the little girl.

"Good," the man said satisfied. He ushered the little girl away and she ran back to her parents.

"What is it you want?" the father of the small children said as he hold her tight. "Is it money? Then take it. Take all of it. I'll even go to a bank if that's what it takes. But please, don't hurt my children."

"Money? No, it's not money. I want my life back."

The people in the compartment glanced at each other. What was he talking about?

"You people at MACUSA think you're so clever," the man sneered.

Seraphina froze. _Was he an escaped convict? A criminal she had helped catch? But if that were the case, why didn't he address her directly? Why take an entire train compartment hostage?_

"You think I didn't notice? I've seen you!" he continued fervently. "Following me around, standing at every corner I turn, always watching, always listening."

"That's ridiculous," the elder lady objected. "I've never seen you before in my life!"

"I found the devices you hid in my house!" the man shouted. "The ones you use to eavesdrop on me. Don't you try to deny it. You're all spies for Eljero! Oh, I _really_ dislike that man."

"I'm done listening to this nonsense," one of the three friends declared bravely and stood up. "I don't know about y'all, but I'll go sit somewhere else. It's clear that this man is crazy."

The man's stance changed. "Yes, that what you want the world to believe, don't you? But I know what you're up to. It won't work. I will not let you take over my mind. I will not become a tool in MACUSA's scheme. Anyway, you can't get out," the man said slyly. "I've got this place under lockdown."

The moment he said it, she felt the tingling in the air around her that indicated an invisible force shield. This was turning into a Section 7b really quickly. She tried to think logical. She hadn't dealt with cases like this before, but there had been something in the books…

"Look at you all. What did you use to appear so old?" he asked the elderly couple. "Polyjuice Potion?"

They looked at him uncomprehending.

"Don't look at me like that! Surprised that I figured it out? But I'm not stupid. Oh no. Not at all. That's why you want me put away, don't you? Because you're afraid I'll tell everybody about your complot to eliminate the wizarding population of America? Yes, I found out about that too. It wasn't too hard. You really are not all that clever. You can tell Eljero that."

A look of shock passed over the man's face. "Wait. If you can use Polyjuice Potion to appear older..."

He turned around quickly. "Which one of you is it?"

"Which one of us it what? Cut it out man!" the middle-aged man said frustrated. "We not spies or whatever you seem to think we are."

"I bet it's you," the man eyed him suspiciously. "You're his height. You're Eljero!" he accused him. "Have you come to take me out personally? Well that's not going to happen!"

"I'm not the President of MACUSA!" the accused cried out when a wand was pointed in his direction. "I'm not, honestly, I swear."

"Then you're one of his agents," the man continued. "Either way, I will not be locked away and silenced." A sudden slash of his wand and the other gasped for breath. He quickly started to get purple. It was obvious that he was under some curse.

Seraphina jumped up. "Stop this right now," she said. "If you want to fight someone, fight me instead."

"I don't know if you noticed, but you haven't got your wand," he honed.

"That's right," she said calmly. "But there are other ways." She had suddenly remembered something her uncle had taught her, many years ago. _Kinetics._ She hadn't been that good at it back then. But she had been only a girl then, and now she was a grown woman, an Auror nonetheless. She'd used wandless magic for menial tasks before. This was just going to be a bit bigger. This was her only option. She tried to focus, just as Uncle Obasi had taught her. The lights in the compartment flickered.

"What are you doing?"

"Let him go."

"I knew it! He _is_ Eljero!" the man yelled triumphantly. He slashed his wand again and his victim fell down. Seraphina didn't need to look to know that he was dead. She felt nauseated. But she had to concentrate. What had Uncle Obasi said again? _Channel your strenght, yes that was it_. She directed all her attention towards the man opposite her. She could feel the energy building up inside her. She focused to bring it all to her hands and clenched them into fists to contain it. _Now,_ she thought, when she felt she couldn't hold it much longer. She sent all her power towards her opponent. He staggered backwards when the rush of energy hit him. She walked forward, pushing herself to her limits. The man fell. With his fall, the _Lockdown_ spell broke.

-o0o-

All of a sudden there was a thudding on the door of the compartment. "Is everything all right in there?" someone asked.

With the man down on the floor, it was easy to get to her wand.

"We could use some assistance," she called back and pointed her wand at the killer. "You sir, are under arrest."

The door burst open and the conductor and two other people stepped in.

"Tie his hands," she told them. "He's killed a man."

As the man was dragged out of the apartment, kicking and screaming that he had been right, that he was being targeted and MACUSA only wanted to put him away so he couldn't hinder their scheme anymore, she sank down on one of the benches. She was exhausted. She had completely depleted herself.

* * *

"For the umpteenth time, Picquery, you did a good job," Wilkinson said frustrated. "You saw a threat and you eliminated it."

"A man died on my watch."

"That could have happened to anyone. There's nothing you could have done to save him."

Seraphina shook her head. "No, I should have taken action earlier. I'll hand over my resignation to the Head of the Department tomorrow."

"And as I told you already, Madam Walsh won't accept it. Like me, she reckons you haven't done anything wrong. You're a damn good Auror and we can't afford to lose someone as talented as you."

Even though she blushed at the praise, Seraphina didn't feel she deserved it. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think that's true. There was a man who shouted paranoid ideas of MACUSA following him and threatening him, and then that same man was arrested. By a MACUSA employee. _After_ he had killed a man. That doesn't look good. What will people think of MACUSA after this incident? What will the people in that compartment think? That maybe what that man said hold a grain of truth?"

"No, they won't think that. They'll consider themselves lucky."

"Lucky?"

"That you were there."

Seraphina sighed. She'd had this conversation at least five times already in the past three days. Everyone told her it wasn't her fault, that there was nothing she could have done to save the man, who had turned out to be Kyle Summers, forty-five, with a wife and two teenage daughters and a son who worked at Maintenance. But at night, she couldn't sleep. She kept twisting and turning in her bed, reviewing the situation over and over again in her mind, eaten by guilt. What if she hadn't handed over her wand? What if she had stood up when the first accusations of espionage were made? What if she'd been more experienced in kinetic magic? She couldn't forget Kyle's face turning purple, couldn't forget him blowing out his last breath. And all because she hadn't handled the situation adequately. She might as well have killed Kyle herself.

"Picquery?" Wilkinson placed his hand on her arm.

She looked up, startled.

"Look, I know it's tough, the first time you see someone die in a situation like this. It'll stay with you forever, I won't lie about that. But if you quit now, you'll allow the bad in this world to win. Just ask yourself this question: if you hadn't been around or if you hadn't acted when you had, how many more people in that compartment would have died that day? Would the elderly couple have been next? The twenty-something friends? The mother or teenager? The parents of the little children? All of them could have died. They could have died, but they haven't. Because you were there to stop it."

Seraphina had to think about this. She hadn't looked at the situation from that angle yet.

"Be that as it may, it still doesn't change the fact that Kyle Summers died. That's still one person too many," she said eventually.

"That's true. But if you quit now, his death will only become more futile."

Seraphina remained silent.

"Look, all I'm asking is that you talk to Headology first. If after that, you still feel you should resign, I won't stop you. I will not keep you employed against your will. But I'd be sorry to see you go, Picquery. I think you're a promising Auror and you could go places. Just talk to Headology, all right?"

She nodded slowly. "All right, I'll do that." She needed more time. Maybe tomorrow was a bit too soon to hand in her resignation. Maybe next week was better. Yes, she'd talk to Headology, show Wilkinson she'd thought things through, and _then_ she'd resign.

* * *

 _A/N: This story was written for the One Character Only Competition on HPFC. My character for all rounds is Seraphina Picquery. This time, I used the following optional promps: pumpkin orange (colour), in a train or car (setting), "I really dislike that man." (dialogue), Write about your character struggling to come to terms with something. (random prompt), paranoia (emotion)_


End file.
